Liz Truss visits India on same day as Sergei Lavrov
- Published
Liz Truss meets India's foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov are both visiting India in competing efforts to strengthen ties.
Ms Truss is urging Delhi to work with other democracies to counter Russia's invasion of Ukraine, by reducing its dependence on Moscow.
The Russian foreign minister will call on India to bypass Western sanctions, and buy more Russian oil and gas.
India has not condemned the invasion and did not vote against it at the UN.
Ms Truss, who has spoken of a "network of liberty", told her Indian opposite number Subrahmanyam Jaishankar it was vital that democracies worked together to deter aggressors.
Appearing alongside him at an event in Delhi, she said the war in Ukraine had also underlined the need for "like-minded nations" to co-operate more closely on defence, trade, and energy and food security.
The foreign secretary also said the UK wanted to see stronger sanctions against Russia - including further measures against its banks, its ability to use its gold reserves, and its access to ports.
But Mr Lavrov is using his visit to push for closer trade links to help reduce the impact of the sanctions imposed on Moscow. Earlier this month, India agreed to import three million barrels of heavily discounted Russian oil.
The foreign minister flew to Delhi from talks in China, which has also declined to criticise Russia's actions in Ukraine.
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent, James Landale, said Delhi's reluctance to criticise the war reflected its Cold War ties with Moscow and the fact that about 70% of its military hardware came from Russia. US President Joe Biden has described India as "somewhat shaky" on the conflict.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the UK understood why India had "chosen to sit on the fence at the moment" - because of its "connections in both directions".
Watch: Truss urges Russia to "abandon Cold War rhetoric" in February
But it was "really important" that democratic nations "stood up" for their values and the rule of law, she added.
However, speaking in Delhi, the foreign secretary said India was a sovereign nation, and the UK would not tell other countries what to do.
She said she was confident a free trade deal between the UK and India could be completed "pretty rapidly", adding that this could involve "Indian production of key pieces of defence equipment".
A strong India and a strong UK was not "just good for us, it's good for the world," she added.
During her trip, Ms Truss will also confirm £70m of UK investment in the development of renewable energy in India, one of the world's biggest users of hydrocarbons.
She will announce a joint cyber-security programme aimed at protecting online infrastructure in both countries from attacks.